Unrequited
by Stephen Morris
Summary: [Phantom Brave] Ash finds himself falling for Marona, and dosn't know how to deal with it.


And it's time for my return to my humble roots: Fanfiction. Not that I've risen to anything spectacular now, but the first even remotely readable piece of crap I ever wrote was fanfiction, so I consider it my humble beginnings. Now I can write easily readable crap, which I consider a _great_ improvement.

Too bad I feel the need to write on an obscure game like Phantom Brave -.-

While the game itself is brilliant, as every Nippon Ichi game I've played is, it lacks the following that games like Soul Calibur, Bloody Roar, and Devil May Cry garner. Those who like the Nippon Ichi games _really _like them. And those who don't really don't. Which is a shame, really, that such compelling stories are held in the dark by the niche game genre of Tactical RPG.

Since Nippon Ichi doesn't get a lot of recognition outside of heavy gamer circles, I recommend Disgaea: Hour of Darkness (which I haven't played, but have heard great things about), and Makai Kingdom: Chronicles of the Sacred Tome for their over the top, comedic characters (evil overlords abound!) and deep, intuitive tactical systems. La Pucelle: Tactics and Phantom Brave are also both brilliant games by Nippon Ichi, but these two are more emotional, offering deeper stories and more 'real' characters, and still maintaining a high quality of gameplay.

Anyway, with that 'advertisement' out of the way, a little explaining is due. This is a love story, yes, but not in the conventional sense. This is a story of the darker side of Phantom Brave, a story of the cursed existence that phantoms, like Ash, must live out. Though new opportunities (like that fact that you never become totally dead, and the ability to phase in and out of corporeal existence by confining within objects) are available, many, many more are stripped from phantoms. That's what this story is about. It is about love, pain, hate, madness, darkness, and, hopefully, light. It probably won't be very long, just two or three entries. At any rate, I hope you enjoy.

**KEY:**

author's comments

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ALL CAPSshouting

**Unrequited (working title)**

Prelude: The World After Walnut 

Five years had passed since Sulfur's final defeat, when Walnut had given up his life to send the demon back to it's netherworld, and buy the Putties enough time to close the connection off for good. Ivoire's denizens had constructed a marker there, a statue of their fallen Walnut the Brave (known by one as Faded), where Sulfur had finally been defeated.

Marona, the Chroma who led the phantoms that defeated Sulfur, and Castile, the girl who could speak with Putties, were promoted instantly to celebrity status. Summarily, Castile received the finest medical attention in all of Ivoire, and had completely recovered from her disease within three years of the Final Defeat.

Sienna, also known as Scarlet the Brave, had returned to Clutter Haven, and secluded herself once more, allowing only a few visitors, among which were Marona, Ash, Count Malt Carmine and Castile.

Following in her dear friend's footsteps, Castile became a chroma, helping others in need, and imitated Walnut's style, the power of the Brave, Psycho Burgundy. She made a quick acquaintance with an owlman named Persimmon, who acted as an informant for her.

Raphael, Bijou, and all the other Ravens returned to their respective clans, and continued life as usual, hiring out to whoever needs soldiers.

Life on Phantom Isle became peaceful, excepting the occasional mission that Marona felt the need to undertake. She was never at want for money after the Final Defeat. Ivoire's citizens saw to it that she lived like a princess. In fact, her reputation, and Castile's building one, earned the pair the title of "The Queens of Ivoire", Marona being the Phantom Queen and Castile being the Burgundy Queen. Despite this, Marona always felt a need to keep helping people, and so, she kept performing missions as a Chroma, often free of charge.

And thus, life went on.

Author's note: I almost forgot to mention, at this point in the story:

Marona is level 70

Ash is level 85

Castile is level 80 (and a GREAT! Valkyrie, with spells, in my imagination )

'course, all that would only make sense if you've played Phantom Brave

And for those who don't know better:

Ash, Marona's phantom protector, died at age 18, so he is stuck that way as a phantom.

Marona and Castile were both 13 when Sulfur was defeated, making them 18 now.

I'm placing Sienna at 45, and Count Malt Carmine at 68, Raphael at 46, and Persimmon at 40, just so y'all know where I'm coming from.

Chapter 1: Descent+

Ash smiled softly, watching Marona gather seashells along Phantom Isle's shore. In the five years since the Final Defeat, as the last battle against Sulfur had become known, Marona had grown from an innocent, naive, but hopeful young girl into a principled, kind-hearted young woman.

_She really has grown up nicely…_ Ash mused, plodding behind her slowly, his transparent body leaving no prints in the sand. His eyes travel slowly over her form. A head of shimmering, lime green hair and matching eyes. She had abandoned the short ponytail of her childhood in favor of a long, sweeping hairstyle, stretching down to her waist. Her attire, too, had changed. She had traded out her short, sleeveless dress for a two piece outfit of a longer, white, blue trimmed skirt, reaching below her knees, and a high cut shirt with long, flowing sleeves, cut halfway up her navel, and halfway up her neck.

Ash found his eyes wandering over her and pondered, for the first time in his memory, the body under the clothes. He saw it to be lithe, slender, and attractively curved. The sudden realization of his contemplations, along with Marona turning to look at him, not through him as most people would have, snapped him out of his reverie. _Wha… what was I thinking!_ Ash moans internally. Were he possessed of a body, he would have blushed profusely.

"Ash!" Marona called cheerfully, "Come look!"

Ash hesitated for a moment, then, banishing his internal conflict, rushed forward, his incorporeal feet sliding eerily over the sand, not disturbing a single grain. "What is it, Marona?" He asks in his usual, clam voice, showing no sign of his desperately repressed thoughts. _Isn't it a little late to be hitting puberty?_ He mentally chided himself. _Despite my astral form, I'm 32! Grow up!_

Marona grinned, eyes sparkling, and held up a shiny, light pink seashell. "Look! It's just like the one Castile gave me!" She pulled it close to the seashell necklace handing from her neck to make a comparison. "Isn't it pretty?"

Ash nodded slowly, smiling. "Yeah. It's beautiful." He said a bit dully, his attention fading from the seashell and necklace to the body beneath them. He shook his head, once again banishing the thoughts.

Marona's face fell. "Wha… do you like it or not?" She asked slowly, apparently confused by his mixed signals.

Ash blinked once, then nodded. "Uh… yeah, Marona. I like it a lit. I'm just a little… out of it, you know?"

Marona nodded, her smile returning. "Oh, okay. Well, I'm going to go back up to the house and see if I can make a necklace out of this shell! I think Castile would love it!"

Ash nodded again, enthusiastically this time. "Of course she would! Speaking of which, it's been a long time since we've seen her. It'd be nice to give her a gift, since it's been so long."

The chroma girl nodded again, grinning. "Right! I'm going to make a great necklace!".

With that, Marona hurried up the short trail, and into the odd, but comfortable house that the pair called home.

Ash sighed, watching her go. "What's gotten into me? I've been dead too long…"

He glanced about a bit, watching the waves lap peacefully at the shore, sounds of Marona searching through cabinets drifting down from the little huts.

He shakes his head again. "I need to get off the island for a while…" He murmurs, stepping out into the ocean, walking easily along its placid surface.

As a phantom, Ash never really got tired, so walking across an ocean from island to island turned out to be a feasible form of travel. A few hours or chaotic thought after his departure, Ash stepped onto the shore at Verdant Guardiana. He liked it there, where society hadn't succeeded in moving in yet. Where the only civilization was that of the putties.

He forged his way into the forest, his passage made considerably easier by the fact that he could simply walk straight through the underbrush without any difficulty. Another benefit of being a phantom.

Before long he broke into a large clearing, something like a bowl in the middle of the forest. He liked this place in particular. No trees grew in the broken, cracked hole dug into the earth of this place, and putties and monsters avoided it for one reason or another (probably just the simple lack of food, water, or shelter), leaving it a solitary place to sit and think, or nap, or whatever else came to mind.

Ash sat, as he liked to do, directly in the middle of the bowl, and spread out on his back, gazing unfocusedly into the sky.

_Marona…_ the word drifted through his mind of it's own volition.

_Marona is… attractive._ Okay, he could accept that.

_I love Marona._ He stopped. This line of thought could get him nowhere. He had been through this line of thought before, soon after his death. For weeks, he had agonized over that fact that, because he was a phantom, he would never be able to be with a woman, among all his other losses.

He shook his head, sighing. Such a simple anxiety had come back to haunt him. He figured that he could shake the problem, now that he had identified it, and go on with his normal un-life.

And yet, the feeling lingered. He shook his head, frowning. _I love Marona…_ echoed through his mind again. No… but… maybe… he **could** turn corporeal for short periods of time, longer with Marona's aid. _I…_ But how could he ever explain this to her? He couldn't just come out and say "I love you." They had been like siblings for years! …_will have…_Then he just couldn't explain it to her. He would have to become strong enough to stay corporeal for long periods of time. Then, maybe, she would understand his dedication. _…MARONA!_

Grasses rustled to his right. Ash propped himself up on his elbows, and glanced over to see a short, red eyed creature wearing garments of forest leaves. The putty waved one of its short arms at the reclining phantom.

It all seemed so clear now. He needed to get stronger to have Marona. In all his time as a phantom, he had grown stronger with every enemy he had defeated, and had been able to remain corporeal for longer the stronger he got. He stood slowly, grinning at the putty.

So all he had to do was defeat a lot of enemies.

Ash straightened the cuff of his sleeve, then slid into a fighting stance. "You will go no further. For her sake, I will not fail!"

The putty cocked its head to the side curiously. Ash lunged forward, his mouth split in a wide grin, one hand cocked back.

"RISING DRAGON!" Echoed throughout Verdant Guardiana's forests, sending startled birds into flight.

Whew… not a very long chapter…. But I enjoyed writing it! More to come, later! Reviews would be awesome (along with the knowledge that a few other people play Phantom Brave )

Wandering thru life with a smile on my face…

Stephen Morris

Makai Overlord


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